Bwaa- what are these 'ebooks' you talk of?? Why would I want to download something almost instantly and be able to read it in the comfort of my own home, business, vacation, or where ever??

Why can't I get in a hot/steamy (or freezing cold) car, fight traffic to get downtown, spend 20 minutes and several dollars to find a place to park, shuffle past bums and panhandlers, get my book, fight traffic to get back home, then repeat this all in a couple of weeks when the due date is up?!?

For that $19 million, you could give every single person in Lawrence an e-reader and a $100 bill toward downloading content!

"Why can't I get in a hot/steamy (or freezing cold) car, fight traffic to get downtown, spend 20 minutes and several dollars to find a place to park, shuffle past bums and panhandlers, get my book, fight traffic to get back home, then repeat this all in a couple of weeks when the due date is up?!?"

Right, because this certainly describes a trip to the Lawrence public library. Right.

It would be funny for someone who knows photoshop to take this and add some reality: about 10% minorities, 30% obese people, some homeless folks, a couple of kids flinging a tantrum on the concrete, etc.

When I was in Ireland a few years ago, I was struck by the fact that you don't see many very obese people there. I'm overweight myself, so I am not belittling fat folks. It was just weird to be somewhere where big was not the norm.
And that statistic was for the whole state, so you may well be right. Lawrence might have a much higher percentage of obese people.